


Long Abandoned Ruins...

by Bluewolf458



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-21
Updated: 2013-10-21
Packaged: 2017-12-30 01:43:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1012537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluewolf458/pseuds/Bluewolf458
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim keeps humming a tune...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Long Abandoned Ruins...

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Sentinel Thursday

He knew the song... and yet he didn't. He couldn't remember the words...

Blair sighed softly as Jim waved a cheerful goodbye before driving off, leaving his partner on the steps of Hargrove Hall.

He headed into the building, still trying to remember where - when - he had heard the song Jim had been humming softly.

He knew he knew the song. The tune was familiar - but... There was one thing of which he was certain. He hadn't heard it for a long time.

He was humming it softly to himself as he headed towards the storeroom that doubled as his office. One or two words fitted themselves to the tune - 'the long abandoned ruins of...' Of something... Of what?

Now was that a genuine memory of the words, or just something he was fitting to the tune because of the lecture on Aztec ruins he was giving in half an hour?

Resolutely, Blair pushed the puzzle to the back of his mind.

***

With the lecture given, the inevitable questions answered and the class dismissed, Blair went back to his 'office'.

The tune was still running through his head.

'Long abandoned ruins...' He still couldn't remember any of the other words. But maybe those would be enough. Settling at his desk, he opened his laptop, booted it up, and put the three words into Google's 'search' box.

Well, that was a lot of use. Over ten million entries about ruins. He went back, entered 'song - long abandoned ruins'.

Ah, that was better! As he read the words, they automatically fitted themselves to the tune. He read to the end, then frowned again. Why was Jim humming that tune? Did he know the words, was he - could he be - trying to say something?

But what? 

Blair grinned affectionately. The one thing Jim wouldn't - or perhaps that should be couldn't - do was put into words how he was feeling emotionally. Sometimes Blair wondered at the open agony he had heard in Jim's voice as he screamed his denial over Danny Choi's death. But then he had pushed his feelings into a box, slammed the lid shut, and grimly set about finding Danny's killer.

Blair had learned to appreciate the odd word thrown his way - 'Chief - I'm glad you came'... For Jim, that was really effusive.

So was Jim now trying to tell him something without actually saying the words?

It was a love song - sort of. But it was from someone who couldn't, for some reason, come right out and say 'I love you'.

Blair drew a deep breath. He'd tackle Jim about it once they got home.

***

It was one of the days when Blair had to be at Rainier all day because he was giving a second lecture at four, although if his car hadn't been getting a much-needed service he'd probably have gone in to the PD between eleven and three. There was always something he could do, though, and he spent the hours working on his dissertation, although he couldn't really call what he did even a first draft; it was simply putting a lot of his notes together in some sort of coherent order.

His second lecture of the day was an introductory one that covered the possible migration routes taken by early man moving into new territory. It was one he always enjoyed giving, because it was one where he always encouraged student participation, looking for their thoughts and suggestions, and he often got some surprisingly insightful ones. He would follow it up with several more lectures giving the routes that had been worked out - out of Africa, into Europe, into Asia, following an island route to Australia, across a possible land bridge into the Americas... The scope for persuading the students to _think_ was tremendous, and he found it invaluable for distinguishing the keen students who would almost certainly make a name for themselves from the ones who wanted to be 'fed' everything, and who would at best end up as competent assistants for the ones leading expeditions to discover new things.

With that class dismissed, he went back to his office, collected the things he was taking home, then returned to the main door of Hargrove Hall to wait for Jim.

He didn't have long to wait; he had only been at the door for two or three minutes when Jim drove up. Blair climbed into the truck with a word of greeting, fastened his seat belt, and leaned back. And waited.

Sure enough, Jim was still humming that song...

Blair waited until they got home. He hung up his jacket, then looked straight at Jim.

"Are you trying to tell me something?" he asked.

Jim looked at him, then nodded. "I... I wasn't sure if you'd know the song, it's such an old one, but... " He hesitated. "It just... You've taught me so much, Chief. You've made me a better person."

"Thanks. Anything else?" His voice was gentle, coaxing.

"Sometimes I've wondered... "

"Something you're not sure of?"

"I... Chief, I think I love you."

Blair took the single step that separated them, reached up and pulled Jim's mouth down to meet his. The kiss was gentle, almost tentative... and just as Blair was able to move away, Jim pressed one hand to the back of Blair's head and held him, deepening the kiss.

At last they separated, just a little, and looked at each other.

"I love you," Jim repeated.

"And I love you," Blair said. "So... what are we waiting for?"

Jim's smile broadened; he caught Blair's hand, turned, and led the way to the steps going up to his bedroom...

**Author's Note:**

> It's interesting - I wrote down the words of the song from memory, then googled it to make sure Blair _could_ find it, and checked several entries for it, and every one of them had, as the third-last line of the second verse,
> 
> Through the long-abandoned ruins of the dreams you left behind
> 
> which would have worked... but it didn't sound right to me - so I dug out a recording of Val Doonican singing it, and yes, it was 'my' version he sang! Which fitted much better with what I wanted to write. So - I give you the Val Doonican version of
> 
> Elusive Butterfly
> 
> You might wake up some morning  
> To the sound of something moving past your window in the wind,  
> And if you're quick enough to rise  
> You'll catch the fleeting glimpse of someone's fading shadow;  
> Out on the new horizon  
> You may see the floating motion of a distant pair of wings,  
> And if the sleep has left your ears  
> You might hear footsteps running through an open meadow.
> 
> Don't be concerned, it will not harm you;  
> It's only me pursuing something I'm not sure of.  
> Across my dreams, with nets of wonder,  
> I chase the bright elusive butterfly of love.
> 
> You might have heard my footsteps  
> Echo softly through the distance in the canyons of your mind;  
> I might have even called your name  
> As I ran searching after something to believe in.  
> You might have seen me running  
> Through the long-abandoned ruins of someone I used to be;  
> If you remember something there that glided past you  
> Followed close by heavy breathing
> 
> Don't be concerned, it will not harm you;  
> It's only me pursuing something I'm not sure of.  
> Across my dreams, with nets of wonder,  
> I chase the bright elusive butterfly of love.


End file.
